The Blackwood Family

Action

2011-08-23T21:28:00.000-07:00

*Warning, this post may seem to liberal for some, and outlandish to others. I wish not to offend, but to work out my own thoughts about this current crisis.

Have you ever been given knowledge about a situation, but then felt like you were left with no solution or closure on the matter? I recently saw an article with very graphic images used to show how bad the famine has become in Ethiopia, Somalia, and Northern Kenya. Here is the link, but be warned that some images may stir deep within your soul to bring about change(Famine in Africa). I must admit that by the time I had finished looking at all of the photographs, by stomach was literally churning. I am not sure whether it was the photographs themselves, the implementations that each one had, or the Holy Spirit so offended by the sufferings that people endure today. The images have neither left my mind nor my heart. I feel that I am left only with my own thoughts and emotions of how to rectify this situation. As a woman who believes wholly in the power of prayer, it suddenly does not seem to be enough. I wish to have prayers that are targeted and effective. A loose fitting blanket over three nations does not seem to be enough, but then what is enough?

That question can begin to backlash as I ponder the word "enough." When is my consumerism "enough"? Or my religiosity? It seems that we who are born into wealth, stability, education have left the ones who are in the gutters to pursue our own dreams and futures. In our democratic society, we have left one another to fend for themselves. The Bible teaches us to lay down our own lives, to help carry the yoke of one another, and to sell our goods. What does that mean for us living in the United States of America? Here we, Christians, pride ourselves on quantity. The white picket fence, that contains our 2.5 children is a security blanket for us against the world. We skim over or completely refuse to look at photographs that show us that the world around us is suffering. It does not fit into our cultural DNA to be observant of others, which would lead us to be responsive through action and deed. The western Church has neglected its own ghettos and slums, much less the ones throughout the world. It seems hard for us to find a solution whenever we are not even looking for one.

I believe that God is calling us to radically look beyond self and to aid those around us. What that looks like for some may be different for others. We are all called to go out. When will children no longer die due to our own selfishness; my selfishness? Greed has caused children around the world to starve and die. There is enough food produced in this world that each person could have four pounds of food a day. There is enough water in this world that every person could have clean drinking water. Wars and famine are tearing this world apart. Will you, will I, will we allow the Church to sit and watch it crumble? Rise up Church and take back what was yours! Do not let the follies of this world distract from what is most important...people.

Sophia

2011-08-23T20:06:00.000-07:00

My baby is a few days away from being ONE year old!! Time has flown by with Sophia. I love that baby!! I did not know what joy she would bring into my life as my heart healed from our miscarriage. She by no means replaced the child that we lost, but God's timing throughout each part of the pregnancy was so strategic that David and I could not have planned out those blessings ourselves.

Healing from the c-section with Sophia was more difficult than with the other two. Samuel was a breeze, and Emma was okay...but with Sophia, I was in so much pain. I went home a day early from the hospital just so I could be in pain alone in my own bedroom! I have learned a lot about myself after having Sophia. Some are good and some are bad. I will blog more about this soon, but back to Phee for now.

Sophia was a loving and cuddly baby from the beginning. She slept good, cried little, and curious a lot. She truly loves Samuel and Emma. Her face lights up immediately whenever she sees them. However, now she is demanding to have her own space and to be allowed to do what she wants. She smiles often, showing her recently gained four front teeth. We have seen a large improvement in her health and speech since she got tubes in late April. Sophia "talks" as much as everyone else in her family. Here are some of the words she can say: daddy, mama, emma, thank you, bye bye, uh oh, doggie, egg, up, and a few more. She is crawling around everywhere and has been for a few months now. She is cruising on anything that can hold her weight, and is appearing to attempt climbing soon. She is completely off of the bottle and formula. Sophia is a wonderful eater, and loves it! She eats table food, and still occasionally some baby food. She is learning to clasp her hands for prayers, and loves to hear Samuel and Emma sing the blessing. She is also into books right now.

Sophia's middle name is Rain. We picked it because of the spiritual implications that rain has throughout the Bible. Rain can be so powerful. It can be cleansing; it can quench draught; it can change surfaces into something completely new; it can also be fierce against structures that are weak and in need of renewal. All of these things we desire for Sophia to know of the Lord and traits for her to live out in her own life. Sophia has been a fresh rain of blessings within our family, and we are eager to see the winds of change in her life as she continues to grow in life and love.

First snow and we had over 8 inches

Uncle Harris

Grandma

First food-rice cereal

Easter with Nana

Pulling up on everything

Papa

Sweet baby girl

Emma

2011-08-23T19:07:00.000-07:00

There are people that we meet along our walks of life that leave a lasting impression from the moment you meet them. That is what Emma has done with me. I know that it may seem that I should say that because she is my daughter, but I believe that my life it vastly different because of the passion flows out of her. She has vitality that is captivating. Every move that she makes is as if she is in an orchestrated dance. It is as if Emma feels every movement within the deepest core of who she is and who she will be. Emma inspires me to love life. She teaches me to laugh despite making a mistake, and even that it is okay to cry with real tears. Emma has a gently, but fiery spirit. One that I know can only come from the Lord. She listens intently, as though she is reaching into your soul to hear the words you are speaking. She is beautiful inwardly as much as outwardly. God's grace reaches deep into her heart, and she knows that He is her maker.

Emma turned 3 a month ago. She had a princess tea party. We had some very special guests that came to celebrate with her. Currently Emma is into all things girly. She loves to dress up, fix her hair, wear make-up, and wear high heels. She is taking dance classes, which she loves! Also, she starts preschool next week. We have so many changes going on in the Blackwood home that it is hard to keep up with it all. So...maybe these photographs will help tell some stories that I have forgotten to write about.

Slip-N-Slide with Daddy and Samuel

Dress up with friends

Caught a not so amused Emmabug

Loves to paint (aka pank)

Silly faces

Best babysitter ever

Sand Angel

<3 the beach

Sibling love

Drama

Happy

Her fav

Attitude

Just jump

Happy

Life when jumping together

Cousins!

Girl Cousins Rule!

Tough Spidey

Queen Grandma and Princess

Nana Royalty

Princess Tea

Teacup Milkshakes by my Daddy

Delicious!

Chocolate Haze

Boys!

Beauty

Brenda loving!

Smile

Pretty

123, ABC

2011-08-23T18:43:00.000-07:00

Samuel finished his second week of preschool today. It is hard to believe that we are already at this stage in his life! He was so excited the first week and a half. He would come home and tell us very little about what he did each day. It drove me crazy. He has finally started talking more when he gets home, but now does not want to go in the mornings. David has been taking him in the mornings because he does not cry like he does when I take him. Sometimes we walk to and from school, and sometimes we take the car. It is so nice to be able to have that option. The weather has been beautiful lately, and I am hoping to start running/walking again as it continues to cool.

Samuel has learned some important things this past week. So I will list them each below.

1.) School comes five days a week, with Saturday and Sunday off!
2.) It is hard to eat breakfast some mornings when you are nervous.
3.) If you do not eat the lunch we send you, you have to eat cafeteria food.
4.) Cafeteria food is okay.
5.) Mom is going to ask everyday what I did in school.
6.) By afternoon, I am tired and cranky.
7.) I love afternoon snacks.
8.) Some ethnecities are born with a natural ability to play soccer, and yes they will steal the ball by knocking you down.
9.) Green smiley faces are the best.
10.) Little girls, especially one named Wendy, may sometimes crush on you.

Number 10 Leads to the ABC's of having or being "crushed" on.

A.) Girls can be friends with boys.
B.) Girls like to chase boys and yell at them.
C.) If a girl has a crush on you, you should ask her to hang out.
D.) No, you cannot tell someone to not have a crush on you.
E.) Yes, crushes will go away eventually.
F.) No, you cannot "get the crush out of you" by doing something like jumping jacks.
G.) One day, you will like the "crusher" back.

We have enjoyed watching Samuel grown into such a sweet loving boy. He is kind and compassionate about people. He is quirky and complex about routine. He is smart and stubborn. He is quick witted and energetic. Even more so, he loves the Lord. So as we adventure into the world of abc's and 123's, we joyfully embrace this stage of life.

Samuel with his friend Ricardo walking to school on the first day.

Batman!!

Lots of new changes, but Daddy is there each step of the way.

Waiting-Yet another post that I have finally decided to share.

2011-08-23T17:28:00.000-07:00

How many times have you sat and found yourself asking, "where is God?" You may even feel a tinge of guilt for questioning such an omnipotent being and His sovereignty. Maybe a question of where God is in your life is not your battle, but rather just a feeling of all together loneliness. You feel as though God was never near you to begin with so why bother asking why He has left you alone.
I believe that it is okay to ask these hard questions. God's sovereignty in not belittled by or innate character to ask questions. God becoming fully human, knows our sorrows and battles. So why then do we sometimes feel that we are left out in the dessert to fend for ourselves? Every situation is different, but one constant remains. God never leaves us, though He may sometimes be silent. This week I have found myself asking for more of God. I want to see His kingdom come down to my city. I am asking for the flood gates of Heaven to be released on my church, on my city, and on my family. I feel as though we have been out in the dessert feasting on the manna that has been provided, but I know that it is time to enter into the promised land. God is waiting for us to be nurtured by the milk and honey that flows. Sometimes we are asking where God is because we are not really looking for Him. We know that the cost of finding God and following Him is great. When we are in relationship with Him we are no longer allowed to be slaves to ourselves. Our own burdens have become so familiar that we are scared of who we will become free from that yoke. It seems like a crazy concept, but our God is radical and calls us into radical holiness. Sometimes we cannot see or hear God because we are drowning out His voice with things from this world. The promises of the Bible still stand today. He loves us; He wants to be with us.

Wellness-This was written 6 months ago.

2011-08-23T17:27:00.000-07:00

There are so many things in our lives that we want to reflect the idea of wellness. We want a general physical wellness within our families. Some strive for a wellness that is only achieved through strenuous work outs. We want to dress ourselves well. We even like for our work to be deemed "a job well done."

As Sophia received a report from the doctor, closing her 6 weeks of illness, we were thrilled to have a report that she is well. If any of you have ever had a sick child or endured an extensive amount of time being sick, then you are aware of the toll it can take on you emotionally while also physically. Our little Sophia went through at home breathing treatments every four hours, three antibiotics, and a steroid cream all to hear the sweet words, "she is well."

This was a post from nearly a year back...I finally got the courage to post what I had written. This is honesty at its rawest form.

2011-08-23T17:26:00.000-07:00

Here I am, sitting in an almost completely empty house. David has taken Samuel and Emma to their great-grandparents' house, and Sophia is sleeping in a cradle beside me. I have been itching to get back to blogging for several weeks, but it seems that daily house duties, children, and quite simply time have not been on my side. I am not sure exactly what I even want to blog about. I have had so many ideas, topics, rants, and etc. that I have hoped to get posted. I think that I will start with the topic that seems to be most present in my life at this moment. The neat part is that this seems to be a revelation not all my own. It appears that God has been showing many people lately the importance of having a good attitude. As a stay at home mom, this is such an important aspect of life, but how often I seem to let it fall through the cracks creating the exact opposite atmosphere that I want to create in my home. I have found myself staring into the mirror, only to see a woman that I do not recognize. I see baggy eyes with wrinkles beginning to form on the outside corners. They carry a sadness and war-torn gaze of someone who has lost herself and in a desperate search to find her again, has given up. Her face is no longer a glow that attracts people, but rather carries a weathering of exhaustion and hopelessness. I think the saddest part of her features are the once upward drawn lips, now carry a frown so large that even when she does smile the edges seem to still curl down. Her face is no longer lit up by the joys of life and serving God. What has happened to this woman? How did life bring her to this point? Could her reflection ever be one of beauty again? Then the kids scream, dinner needs to be prepared, the house needs cleaning (again...) so her reflection will have to wait for those answers another day.

Its amazing to realize how big of an affect our attitudes can have over our lives, and sometimes when we start that downward spiral it is hard to come back up. Actually, only with God's help can we ever really make a complete turnaround and stay that way. I read in another blog just the other day who was sharing about how a wise woman is to build her house. She shared this verse from Proverbs:

Proverbs 14:1 "The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears it down."

How true this is! As the woman of my house, it is my responsibility to make sure that things are in order as they should be. I, with God's help, control the atmosphere and environment. I am the one who allows things in or out. If there is negativity in my home, it is my job to clean it out. If you know my family, you may often hear me say that we speak decimals louder than most. However, this is something that normally rattles my nerves, I like for it to be quiet (good luck to me, right?!). I have realized though, this makes me do a lot more yelling then I would like. I feel as though I am drill Sergent on a loud speaker, and I hate that! A couple of weeks ago I realized that I was not enjoying my children. I loved them, but as much as it hurts to say, I haven't been enjoying the everyday stuff. I sometimes will daydream about what it will be like when they are older and we can take vacations sans tantrums. I do not want to know how many hours I have wasted doing this instead of sitting on the floor and playing with Samuel's cars or brushing Emma's baby doll's hair. I have shown my kids an attitude of lackadaisicalness and bitterness. To put it simply, I am tired. I am tired of cleaning after everyone. I am tired of being alone with the kids all day. I am tired of everyone counting on me. I am tired...and the list could go on...if I allowed it to. But the truth is, this is the life and path that I chose. I also believe that this is the path that God has set before me. I know that it looks a lot different than what I thought it would be, but it is a good one. I have allowed myself to get in the way of what is a good thing. My own negativity has trickled out into my everyday life so much that it seems to be a waterfall now! So how can I correct this? I have decided that I am going to enjoy my life. It is amazing the difference our lives can have when we allow ourselves to enjoy it! Now don't get me wrong, I do not enjoy my kids tantrums, or backtalking. However, I do enjoy those teachable moments that allows me to be a wise builder in my home so that one day they will be enabled to do the same. I am, along with David, my kids' number one teacher. I am the example that they see daily. I must daily love God, worship Him through all things, love my husband, and love my children all with a joyful heart. The Stealer wants to take this away and keep us from enjoying life to the fullest. It is easy to allow that to happen when we are focused inward, but whenever we realize those little blue and brown eyes are watching us we begin to realize that this life is about something greater than ourselves. So why not enjoy it?! I believe that our attitude can make or break us. It is what allows us to enjoy life. It is what encourages the woman staring at herself in the mirror that sleepless nights, tantrums, cleaning up the same messes several times a day is only for a season. Our children only stay little for a time, and it is our responsiblity to teach them how to control tempers and how to clean their own messes. It is so much more rewarding when we can do that with a smile and a song in our heart, rather than being bitter and angry about it.

Pillows and Prayers; Experiences of A Stay At Home Mom

2011-08-18T19:31:00.000-07:00

Raising children can be one of the most joyful and difficult tasks for parents. Sometimes those difficulties are especially highlighted being a stay-at-home mother with very little breaks. It is during those times of tantrums, spills, diaper changes, door slamming, and maintaining hectic schedules that one may question their faith. Not so much about God's existence, but where He can be found in the midst of the day to day activities that seem to consume our lives.

My oldest child, Samuel, came home from his first day of school only to be bombarded with an array of questions from his eager parents wanting to know about how his day went. He casually answered that it was a good day other than "having to sleep on hard mats with no pillows." Knowing that this was a rare opportunity for us to bond, I immediately took him to our office to make a pillow case for him to take to school the next day. We carefully picked out different fabric markers, making sure that the cat we had drawn looked just like the one in the photograph we were using. As I wrote a Bible verse on the back of the case, he stated that he no longer wanted to take the pillow to school.
I immediately began the questioning, again, to find the source of his immediate rejection of our craft. Samuel began to explain that no other children had a pillow for nap-time in the class. He did not want them to be jealous because they could not have one like his. There is no way that Samuel could possibly know that his school is one of the poorest in the county, but none the less the Spirit within him was speaking. He asked if we could make a pillow like his for the other children. Our church choir, at Trinity UMC in Dalton, helped us raise enough money that we were able to make pillow cases as well as purchase travel size pillows to go in them! We delivered them to the school, and word quickly spread about Samuel's generosity.

I believe that in these moments of kindness, God's love radiates in such a way that opens doors in this world for the Kingdom to flow forth. I try daily to teach my children right from wrong and to care for others. However, the best way for them to learn is through Christian love in action. This kind of Kingdom living can be talked about, but is not truly expressed until our hearts meet action. It is difficult enough to raise children in this generation, much less to raise Christian children. Through the church stepping outside of its walls and embracing creativity, we can reach a world that is in desperate need of a Savior. A Savior that even a 4 year old knows His voice, is most definitely worth sharing.

Sam goes to School

2011-08-08T20:20:00.000-07:00

I spent the last part of Samuel's night routine on the brink of tears. I have tried to avert them all day today, only to know that tomorrow the flood gates will probably release its weakening hold. Why such a test to my emotional being? Samuel starts pre-k this Wednesday!!

He will go to an all day, everyday pre-k class that will be much like a kindergarten class. Due to his October birthday, he misses the cut-off time for entering into Kindergarten this year. David and I have done much wrestling with what we should do about his schooling this year and decided that this was our best option for him. Samuel is a sweet, caring, and sensitive child. The way that he cares for his sisters is often more paternal than brotherly, other than the typical sibling fights. He gets excitement and enjoyment for the simplest of things. He loves art and music. Samuel is smart like his father, and his memory is almost frighteningly good.

Even with knowing all of his wonderful characteristics, I can't seem to swallow the fears and insecurities that all mother's must feel. Did I raise him in a way that he will succeed in school? Did I teach him to share? What about those horrible screaming fits that he still does?! Will he want to still say the blessing at lunch, and will others join him? Does he know how to get me if there were an emergency? I have not even taught him his home address!! Not because I did not think it was important, but the day to day seems to overtake the important life lessons that I need to be teaching at times. I find that it is easier to just discipline without the teaching moment whenever my 1, 3, and 4 year old are crying simultaneously.

As I have frantically begun to gather his school supply items, making sure he has the proper clothing, shoes, a good sleep schedule, and racking my brain with whether or not I should let him take his lunch to school the first day or learn how to walk through the lunch line...I hear God speak peace. A peace that He often so freely gives, and one that I so desperately need. As every parent faces the uncertainties of raising children, and questioning if we are teaching them about the things that matter in life, God so very lovingly walks beside us. It is easy to drown out God's voice with the fear and anxiety, but learning to hear His voice is a discipline and a joy. My goals for Samuel is to be the best at what God has called Him to be. I pray that he will say the blessing, that he will sit with the kid who has no friends. But life is a journey and every day is a new day to learn. He will probably spill his milk, and he will probably not count correctly just because he can. He is 4, almost 5. I want him to enjoy life, and not live life through my own fears and anxiety, but rather live through the freedom in Christ that I know he already believes.

My baby boy is becoming a big boy, and I know that God tugs on His heart strings because He uses him so much to tug on mine. The Perfect Parent is also the Perfect Teacher. God is so good, and faithful. Peace.

The New Lenten Fad

2011-03-12T09:41:00.000-08:00

Are you Christian cool? Have you joined the lastest fad in Christianity? If so, this blog is for you. If not, maybe this post will spur you towards more Christian excellence as you deepen your walk with Christ.

As I begin this blog post with a little jest, I am truly pondering the idea of a Lenten fad. Like I posted earlier, this is my first year participating in Lent. I will admit that two hours into it, I nearly cried as I poured Emma a bowl of MY favorite cereal. I was immediately grieved that my flesh could be so weak. David and I have been discussing Lent and its meaning a lot over the past few days. Part of that is being the wife of a pastor, the other part is that I am truly intrigued by this journey.

Our conversations lately have been about what it means to deny our body of some type of food that brings us enjoyment so that we are reminded of need for a resurrected Savior and the hope that Easter brings. We have spoken with friends and church members about what they have decided to give up like chocolate, sodas, sweets, meats. This year seems to have a real hype about Lent. Even a Burger King sign read, "Lent special, 2 fish for $2."

It is wonderful that we have decided to do a Lenten fast, however, if we are not taking up spiritual disciplines in its place we are simply skipping meals. We will become merely an anorexic body of Christ, instead of a Bible believing, faith sharing, loving people. This is a time in our Christian faith were we press into the heart of Christ so that we may know Him and may be fully known. Lent is a time of sorrow as we repent from our sins, but it is not a time to solely sit and waller in the ash pile. Fasting without incorporating prayer, scripture reading, worship, fellowship is powerless and of little use. My prayer for this season of David's and my life is that we really begin to believe the things that we say and we make the spiritual disciplines (tithing, pilgrimage, fasting, prayer, Scripture reading) a daily part of lives more than just during Lent. If all of the Christians during Lent truly sought the Lord, then we would be a powerful force that Satan could not reckoned with. My prayer is that this is the year that Christians through down the fads and seek His face!

My babies are growing too fast!

2011-03-09T12:15:00.000-08:00

I thought that I would give an update of the kids. My parents got Samuel for a few days and the girls are taking a nap so I have some time to get a couple of blogs in!! It is hard to believe that Samuel will be starting preschool next year, Emma is as independent and vibrant as ever, and Sophia just turned 6 months old! Here is a little bit about what each of them like, don't like, or do.

*Samuel, my oldest, is not quite 4 1/2. He is a sweetheart. Samuel, though he can sometimes be mean to them, is very protective of his sisters. He is crazy about them. He is kind, compassionate, and very gracious. Samuel is at a difficult age emotionally. He is making the transition from being a little boy to a big boy. I can see him working through in his mind what actions he should or should not do. He loves to aggravate Emma. It is his love language. He also loves to give Emma and Sophia hugs and kisses. I have the sweetest son, who is caring and loving. He will say things like, "when I have kids they will stay at the church so I can preach," or "I can climb the wall like Superman." He loves super heroes. He can name them all, by super hero identity and their names. He loves to play pretend more than anything, with costumes. He doesn't play with any one particular toy. He also loves to fish and play outside. Samuel enjoys watching Scooby-doo.

*Emma, who is 2 1/2, is a ball of fire. She is passionate, funny, and very smart. Emma is a quick learner. She picks up on a lot from Samuel. She loves anything to do with a pink, glitter, and bows. Emma and Samuel both play a lot of pretend games. Emma will wear princess costumes. She loves to have her nails painted. She has learned most of her letters and numbers from Samuel. Emma is very particular. She prefers to pick out her own clothes, and sometimes her outfits are cuter than what I would pick out! We endure several outfit changes throughout the day. Emma loves to sing. She still sucks her thumb, but I think that we will maybe be able to break that habit whenever she starts potty training. Emma is smart enough to go, but I think that she likes to hold onto the last bit of "baby" that she has. She loves to cuddle. Emma smiles a lot. She is more outgoing than Samuel.

*Sophia, 6 months, is the baby of the family. She is growing too fast. She can sit up, roll over, and pick up toys. She is crazy about Samuel and Emma. She could be crying her little heart out and if Samuel comes up to her she will stop. He is always wanting to hold her and she loves it. She smiles so big. Sophia is a quiet and calm. She doesn't get overly excited or overly upset. She reminds me so much of Samuel when he was a baby. Her hair is beginning to grow back in, though we are not sure what color it will be yet. Just today she went up to on her knees. I believe that she will be crawling within a month. She can stand very good in an excersaucer. Sophia is such a sweet tempered child. She seems to be teething, but I don't see any apparent signs of the little whites coming in. She loves to eat baby food, which is helping her get fuller. She is in 12 month clothes. I love this baby!

I am crazy about my children. They are each so unique, but yet so obvious that they are a collaboration of David and my genes. They love the Lord, and have lots of questions. It is my joy to be able to answer them the best way that I can. They are active and so full of life. Everyday is an adventure that we share in, making new discoveries about God, life, love, science, and family. What a joy to be able to walk with each other through it all.

A Lenten Journey

2011-03-09T10:53:00.000-08:00

In the ashes we are reminded of the course of all human life. When we hear those words "Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return." we are confronted with the reality that we are not the creator but the created. More than reminding us of mortality, we find also in the ashes the call of the creator who desires us. -Jerrod McCormack

As I have been trying to prepare myself for our Ash Wednesday Service this evening, I have also been preparing for Lent. I have never participated in Lent, mostly because I never took the time to educate myself on exactly what this season of our Liturgical calendar meant. Here is a quick description of what Lent is from a friend of mine who is a pastor in Tennessee. I followed the quote a link to his blog if you are interested in a further explanation of Lent. He writes:

"Lent is a 40 day period from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday (not including Sundays). The season before Easter was from the earliest days of Christian faith celebrated as a time in which Christians would fast and increase their practices of the spiritual disciplines. It has, from those earliest times, been a season in which Christians draw nearer to God in order to be ready to celebrate the Resurrection." Jerrod McCormack, from his blog, http://halflyreformed.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/a-faithful-lent-in-a-modern-age/ .

This is such a special time as we prepare to suffer with the Cross and then celebrate with resurrection. I think that as we press into the heart of God, it cannot be done without spiritual disciplines. Yes prayer is good, but scripture reminds us that even it is most powerful when coupled with other disciplines. So why have so many people missed out on this amazing journey? Why have I missed out on 26 years of it? It is a season of surrender, repentance, denial to be apathetic, discipline, seeking, and reward. I am looking forward to seeing what mysteries God chooses to share with me, and seeing my own faith deepened. For the past few months I have felt tired, worn down, and simply deserted. I know that is not the truth, but it is how I have felt. So I am looking forward to trying something new that I know will produce the fruit that I have been longing to produce.

So, what I am I doing for Lent? I am going to be participating in our church Lenten offering where we will be giving up our favorite beverages. They money that we would normally use to buy these drinks, we will save and present it as an offering on Easter morning. Also, we will save any loose change and bring it as well. It is called Cups for Kenya. We will take the offering and give it to aid a woman named Esther. She lives in Kenya and raises orphans. We believe that God cares for the widows and the orphans, and that it is close to His heart. Therefore, we want to honor what He honors.

For my own personal journey, I will be living off of rice and vegetables. There is a world-wide epidemic of starving people. In effort to raise awareness for the real issues of hunger, I will be limiting my food intake to that of what most of the people in the world eat. There are a few people who are participating in the same effort but even more radical than mine. When asked why not just give money to a food program, the answer is quite simple. We can have more compassion for those who are suffering whenever we have been in that same place. To truly understand that hunger in this world is a real problem, then maybe I need to put down that steak, hamburger, chips, candy bar, insert your favorite food here. God has the utmost compassion for us because He knows and has suffered as we have, even greater. I will also be incorporating other various disciplines into my daily routine.

I share all of this to encourage you as you make this journey. Easter is a season of such sorrow, joy, sins, and resurrection. It is a marriage of the harlot and the rich man who deems her worthy of all that he has. Join me as God deems each one of us worthy of being His bride. He calls us chosen and beloved. Let us rejoice as we turn our face from the shame of our sin to the rejoicing of our acceptance. Shalom be with you.

Some blogs that you may want to follow if you are interested in reading more about Lent or Stop Hunger Now are listed below.

http://thehogfather.wordpress.com
http://halflyreformed.wordpress.com
http://quadrilaterallythinking.blogspot.com/
http://preacherdansponderings.blogspot.com

New Year

2011-01-19T13:27:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe that I only did 5 posts last year!!! I have been busy, but not that busy! I won't waste a whole lot of time saying that I am going to do better. I will try to do better this year.

I feel as though I have been walking in the wilderness since David and I first met. I long to hear from the Lord for direction and purpose. Yes, I know that being a wife and mother are fulfilling part of that purpose, but it does not satisfy all that is within my soul. I must confess that I thought moving to Dalton would unveil some real big purpose in my life. How unrealistic of me to put such expectations on moving or Dalton?! Needless to say, very little has been revealed. I have three of the sweetest children that a mother could ask for. Samuel is tender and kind. Emma is zealous and passionate. Sophia is hungry (and I mean more than just belly hungry), tempered with patience. All characteristics that I would love to have! However, being their mother alone is not all that God has called me to be. So how do I find that? Is it in God's word alone? Am I not hearing Him in the quiet places of my heart? Do I even have any quiet places so that I can hear Him? Being a wife of a pastor is no small task. I have his burdens that I carry with him, 3 innocent souls to protect. Do I really have time of my own? I ask, all while knowing that I need time for myself, it is expected, it is necessary, and it is desired! So, I am going to sort it out on here. I hope that as I share with you about the children and their milestones, I will also make time to share with you what I have been graveling with in my own faith. May this new year find you all blessed and filled with excitement for what the Lord has done, is doing, and going to do.

Fresh Strawberries

2010-07-12T14:46:00.000-07:00

There are so many neat things to do in north GA, and we have just really been able to start enjoying them with the kids' ages. One of the things we heard about was a strawberry farm where you are given a bucket to pick your own. I thought that this would be a great place to take photographs of the children. However, it was not the ideal place or situation because they would squish the strawberries as they picked them! It was mostly on accident, at least I think, but their clothes and hands were covered in red! So it was not quite the photo op that I had hoped it to be, but the children really did have a good time. David was able to go with us, and he did most of the photographing. Samuel and Emma walked up separate aisles, but then eventually shared one aisle together. After we picked the strawberries and paid for them, they sat down to enjoy some of their spoils. We stopped by the grocery store on the way home to buy vanilla ice cream so that David could make strawberry milkshakes (due to juicy, squashed strawberries it was the perfect combination!). They were delicious! We even made them for my family in Irwinton when we to visited them the following day. David and I are enjoying watching our kids learn and explore new things. Picking strawberries was so simple and cheap, but I think that the experience was well worth anything that money could buy! The pictures below are the kids picking strawberries and our stop at the grocery store.

Continuing the process, but excited to be here!

2010-07-10T14:29:00.000-07:00

This is a collage of David's graduation and commissioning. I wish that I had more photographs from his commissioning service held on June 16, but I was having some camera difficulties. I am so proud of his accomplishments! He finished school within 3 years, and was certified as a provisional member in the United Methodist Church. Now he must complete a 3 year period of many more interviews, meetings, and book readings before he can be certified as an Elder in Full Connection. We are excited to be in this part of the process! We have endured many difficult, as well as joyful times to arrive at this moment, and with God's help we look forward to the journey ahead. I am thrilled to be able to share this with you!

What have we been up too?

2010-07-09T21:47:00.000-07:00

Well I did manage to get a couple of collages up over the past several months, but I haven't felt very motivated to write much. I would often think of things that I would like to blog about, but that is when it seems that I was never around a computer. So hopefully this will be a refreshing start. Just to catch up to speed (mostly so that I can have it for my own records), these are a few of the many changes that our family has been making:

>I found out the Monday before Christmas that I was expecting. This would have been around the same time that I would have found out the gender of the baby I miscarried. In late April, I found out that we are expecting another girl. This would have been around my due date. We are scheduled for a c-section August 27, a day before my miscarriage. I am writing this information to not dwell on the miscarriage, but to show the grace and mercy that God so kindly gave me. This whole pregnancy has been bittersweet; the timing has been impeccable! The pregnancy is going well and we are excited that the time is drawing near for the birth of our daughter. Samuel is so excited. He is constantly wanting to feel her kick or move. Just today he drew a picture that he wanted to show her. Emma on the other hand has made my growing belly feel like a play thing. She likes to rub it roughly or punch it...which neither feel great. I think that though it will be an adjustment, they will make great siblings to our new addition.

>Samuel is growing constantly. He has hit so many growth spurts lately, we can barely keep him full! He is very intuitive and seems to ask a million questions. Patience is the key with him. I usually do not mind answering him, and have grown fond of the way he pushes and stretches me to grow as a mother. The easy answer to most of his questions is "because I said so." However, that does not satisfy him nor myself. I want to teach him why, and I want him to know why I am saying "so". We are teaching him about God and how He works in our lives. This is not always easy to teach a 3 1/2 year old. Especially whenever our cat, Bella, died from a traffic accident. He tries to understand Heaven, and I believe that his perceptions of it right now are good enough. Samuel is so loving and compassionate. He is creative and has the most interesting conversations with his toys. His perception is often mind blowing because he is picking up on things that we had no clue he was even paying attention to. He is also very ordered and does not like change! I think that Emma is helping him to learn to cope with part of that. ;) Oh, and he loves Spider Man, and wants to talk in Spanish.

>Emma, wow! She is a spitfire! Emma has passion and zeal. She is so different from Samuel and it has been a privilege to watch them both grow. Emma loves life; she is her own comedian. She is silly, and loves to make people laugh. She is very expressive and often it is through her body language. She is crazy about Samuel and copies him often. Her language is developing well and she can talk in full sentences, but still will babble off into her own little world. She loves babies right now...feeding, changing, rocking, and strolling them all around the house. Emma will say her prayers at night and usually wants you to sing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" or "Twinkle Little Star". Emma is learning to count and learning her colors. Her birthday is coming up soon, so I will post more then.

>David graduated from Asbury Theological Seminary!! Yay!! He did an excellent job the past three years in working hard for all of his classes. He graduated with excellent grades. It was a hard three years on all of us, but well worth it. We are so grateful to everyone who helped us through this time, whether financially, prayerfully, emotionally, or more! God provided in so many ways and we are thrilled to have walked through this part of our lives. I am so proud of David, and believe that God has many exciting journeys ahead for him.

>We have moved. We are now living in Dalton, where David is serving a full time Methodist church as a provisional member. We are so excited to see what God has in store for us here. The church is vibrant and very active in service, so we are looking forward to partnering that with solid discipleship. The church has been very warm and welcoming.

>And me? You will have to check back within a few days to see what I have been up too!

2010-04-15T15:04:00.000-07:00

WInter Wonderings

2010-04-02T16:17:00.000-07:00

Nana Fun (15 photos), by jessica blackwood

2009-12-05T15:51:00.001-08:00

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos

Christmas Mug (37 photos), by jessica blackwood

2009-12-04T12:15:00.001-08:00

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos

The Winner Is...

2009-11-09T16:41:00.000-08:00

Well this year's pumpkin contest proved to be a little difficult for the Gale family. The Blackwoods were the only ones to grow any pumpkins this year! They were just larger than a soft ball. It seems that the bees were not pollinating well this year in our yard, or anyone else's yard in our family. Unfortunately we did not discover what the problem was until it was too late to grow anything of any real size. Josh did not plant any pumpkin seeds, Daniel was able to grow a small upright vine with a few leaves, and Bobby and Nancy were able to grow a small vine with a female flower. Matt proved to be the most competition in the beginning because he had good strong vines with large leaves. However, he could not get his flowers to pollinate and his plant began to die in early October. Our vines got up to 20 feet long and produced many female flowers. We were able to grow the two pumpkins that you see in the pictures. However, the jack-o-lantern was grown by a gardener that attends our church. He graciously gave Samuel and Emma that pumpkin to carve for Halloween. It was a neat process to watch the pumpkins grow over the past 4 months. We are already talking about what we will do different next year. So the first place ribbon this year goes to the Blackwood family! Thanks to everyone who voted!

Life

2009-10-19T17:40:00.000-07:00

This month has been passing by so quickly. It has been a while since I last blogged. I guess we have been adjusting to the changes in our lives, and trying to not dwell on the empty arms that we will have in April. With that said, our lives are continueing to be enriched by the children that we do have. Samuel turned 3 this month, and yes I will put up pictures in the next post, and Emma will turn 15 months at the end of the month. Samuel has already had his 3 year check up and everything looked great. He is 33lbs, which I cannot believe because he is so skinny, and 38 1/2in tall. He is a motor mouth! I have never seen a child talk so much! I am afraid to say that it must be genetic. He is in preschool three days a week to help him get some children interaction. He loves it. He asks to go see Ms. Tina, his teacher, and his friends. He is crazy about Emma, but loves to aggravate her! He is a very protective big brother, but I have noticed that he smiles now when I get onto Emma! He also has decided that he can tell her "no ma'am" as well. Emma is all girl and definitely packing an attitude. I love it! She is fiesty and does not mind telling you "no" as well as pointing her finger while doing it. I believe she has seen someone do that before. She has a sweet disposition and will smile at anyone. She is my snuggler of the two. Samuel will lay with me in the evenings to watch television, but she will snuggle up to me any time of the day. Emma is walking and running everywhere. She is a little different than Samuel in that she will roam around the house on her own, and play by herself. Both children are growing so fast! The pictures above are mostly of the kids or Emma playing with baby dolls. Emma will play with a doll for the longest time, wrapping it up in a blanket and then snuggling with it. One night they each had one and Samuel informed me that they were Alex and Ava, his new twin cousins. They were so cute playing together. I know that one day Samuel will not find this too funny, so I that is why I need to post it now! Oh, and Samuel can say three Bible verses right now, as well as sing a blessing for the food. Emma babbles through a round of "Twinkle Little Star", which is the cutest thing. I am hoping to post some videos soon. Thankfully, all is well in the Blackwood home. We are pursuing God with all that we have, for in Him is our hope and trust.

Apple Pickin' Time

2009-10-19T15:09:00.000-07:00

We had a fun filled weekend with lots of different things going on. The children got to stay up late to see their daddy Wednesday night because they really had been missing him now that he is gone weekly to seminary. Samuel especially enjoyed that. Once we finally got them to bed, we caught up on the week and enjoyed our time together. Thursday and Friday we did a variety of things around the house. When I write that the kids missed their father, it is to no exaggeration. They wanted him all weekend long. I was able to get my haircut on Friday and have a girl's night out at Starbucks. David and I watched "The Proposal" that evening. The most enjoyable thing we did was take the kids to Ellijay to an apple orchard. Samuel was so excited to be able to pick apples straight from the tree. As my father likes to say, it made for a great science project. I believe that it is good for children to be able to see where things come from and how they grow. After he picked apples, we enjoyed many of the amusements that they had at the orchard. We took advantage of the photography opportunity and snapped many photos! We rode on a wagon, Samuel rode some tricycles, milked a cow, walked a nursery rhyme themed nature walk, played on a playground, and had fun with a huge slide. It was a very cold day, but the kids did great. It was some of the best time we have had together as a family. Now that Emma is getting older, we are able to do more things, which has been very nice. We ended our time there with apple cider and a funnel cake! That evening ended with fried green tomatoes! On Sunday we had a nice meal and Samuel and I made cookies with Reese's pb cups. They were delicious! Unfortunately our weekend is now over, and David is back off to school, but we are already planning next weekend. It is nice to be able to enjoy some of the festivals that are going on with family. My little family is growing up so fast, almost too fast!

Heaven is Big Enough

2009-09-01T07:50:00.000-07:00

I was just told recently about a seminary professor who was having a conversation with his class. It was on the issue of souls and heaven, and someone asked about the souls of so many babies that are lost to miscarriage. He simply smiled and responded, "I think that Heaven is big enough." It is with the heavy heart that I make this next post. I find great comfort in the words "Heaven is big enough." David and I found out a few weeks ago that we were expecting "Baby #3" as we like to call it. We already had names ready! We waited to tell our families because we wanted to enjoy the first few weeks with just the family. Little did I know that the special time that David and I had would be our only time.

I began to miscarry this past weekend and am still in the process as I write this. I curled in a ball and cried as my husband held me when it began. My disbelief that this was happening was made into a reality when we went to the doctor on Monday. I will spare you all of the physical details because that's not what I want to write about. Just please pray that this will pass quickly from me, for it is a constant reminder of the baby that I will never hold. The eyes that I will never wipe tears away from. The bumps and bruises that I will never get to kiss. I never knew the kind of sorrow and pain that women experienced after a miscarriage, and to be honest it takes knowing someone very closely to even understand a little of what they are going through. My heart is breaking. There are a lot of ways to try to make sense of this, but that's not what I want. Loosing a baby does not make since, whether they are miscarried, stillborn, or die outside of the womb at whatever age. We live in an imperfect world where these things happen. I am not concerning myself with the why's, but rather where I go from here. How do I mourn the loss of someone that I know so well but for such a short amount of time, but never met? It is hard because there is no body to bury, there is no service to be held. No one sits on the couch and cries with us, but those that are really close to us. People may try to say that we never knew this child, or maybe it never developed. To us, this was a child, our third child that we did know if only for a short season. I still hurt, but everyone else moves on.

I feel an emptiness in the pit of my stomach. A sickening kind that won't let up. It does not offer me hope to think that maybe this protected us from something that could be worse. Maybe that is just for now, and my heart will change later. Please do not see me as being rude, but as a mother who is suffering loss. I wish that I could better explain the emptiness that I feel. Just know that it is a dark, deep, barren place. One where only the Lord can find me.

I am leaning heavily on David, and Jesus is having to carry us both. But His arms are strong! David is at a loss for words, but yet can find a lot to say. Please pray for him, that God will give him a grace on his words. David is angry. He was so excited about this baby. He has been ready for another child since April. He feels the loss of a child, and aches for his wife. This is a very different and difficult place. We are holding on to each other tighter than ever before. Please pray that our marriage will be even better as we walk through this valley. We are keeping the lines open and communicating the best that we can right now. We will be placing something on Dixon's grave as a memorial. I hope that this will bring closure, which I so desperately need.

You may want to know what we need right now. We need you to be graceful with your words. Please guard our hearts as you speak to us. I know that this will not last forever, just please remember that though we never held or saw him, our baby was very real to us and so is the loss. Please pray that I will physically heal quickly. It will take a few more days to clean out and then a couple of weeks to normalize hormonally. I am going to begin training with David and preparing for the half-marathon. Please pray for my family, because I know that they are not sure how to respond. They hurt because I hurt but only found out we were pregnant as I was going to the hospital. They never had time to even celebrate with us. Pray that as we walk through this, God will show us how to rejoice and praise Him all the more.

This has not shaken our faith but is making us stronger. I love the Lord more today than ever before. I am not angry with Him. He is not the creator of evil, but of good things. I am thankful that God knows how I feel, and His tears are even bigger than mine. A heart that can hold such a perfect love most definetly can mourn with me who is not perfect. David reminds me that through that love, I will hold our baby one day and that he is in a state of flawless perfection. So though I hurt right now, I have the hope of salvation! I will probably write more later, but this is a very rough writing of what is going on with us. Just know that I am thankful that Heaven is big enough for you and for me. We will be okay, and God's love is washing over us wave after wave. For now, I must bask in that love as my heart begins to heal.

The Pumpkin Contest Continues!

2009-08-26T18:24:00.000-07:00

We are around 2 months from the day of our big pumpkin contest. I have reports that most plants are doing well. I don't have any pictures to post of what the plants look like currently, but I do have some of Samuel transplanting ours a few weeks ago. Samuel was such a big helper and carried the plants in his wheel barrel from our porch to the "pumpkin patch". He is very excited to watch them grow, and loves to help water them. This has been a neat experience because he is learning to take care of something other than himself, and he is learning about how things grow. Hopefully I will post some more pictures up in a couple of weeks.

Birthday Party Number 3

2009-08-26T18:21:00.000-07:00

I don't have any pictures yet, but I am going to go ahead and posts this. I will add the pictures later. I was with Emma, so I couldn't take any pictures. My aunts were kind enough to throw a birthday party for Emma and my cousin's little girl who turned 2 in Savannah. They treated the girls like princesses. They were so cute! I am thankful to have such loving family. They truly made it a special first birthday! I will posts the pictures once I get them emailed to me.

Birthday Party Number 2

2009-08-26T18:14:00.000-07:00

I know that this is really late posting, but I had to put these pictures up because Emma is just too cute! These are from a second birthday party that we had for Emma with church members and David's family.

Birthday Party Number 1

2009-08-05T07:15:00.001-07:00

Emma's first birthday party was in Irwinton with mostly my family and David's grandparents. Josh took Emma outside and made some pictures. Below are some of them. We had a nice day and a lot of fun.

Samuel and I made Emma's cake this year. I am not sure if I will ever do this again, but it was fun! We were up past midnight working on it! I was having trouble icing it because it kept crumbling! Oh well!

Emma enjoying her cake (in reverse order). She dug right into the cake! I had to take it away because she was eating way too much!

Emma got a lot of great things. She got a Dora soft-foam chair, a beautiful wooden rocking chair, a baby doll, some clothes, money, and a top designer (Uncle Matt) toy box.

Happy Birthday Emma!

2009-08-05T06:52:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Emma! Emma turned one year old July 25. We celebrated with three different parties; two with family and one with our church. It is hard to believe that a year has already passed. She has changed and grown so much over the past year. Emma is now taking steps but gets to excited to really walk yet. She starts to walk but smiles and falls down. I think she is just being silly. I believe that she is very close to walking though. She can make the cutest lion sounds, as well as dog and cat noises. She loves baby dolls. She knows how to give them a pacifier and bottle! Emma also recognizes girly clothes in stores and cries for them! She loves to laugh and play with Samuel. Please don't think for a second that just because she is younger she gets pushed around. She is an instigator and hard headed. Therefore Samuel gets into a lot of trouble that she started and she can hold her own in a fight. She has four teeth, with four more very close to coming in. She is a biter! However, Emma is beautiful on the inside and out. She will stroke people's arms in the most loving way. She gives the sweetest kisses, and when she sees that it makes you happy she will give more. Emma is crazy about Samuel and very protective. She gets upset if he is hurt. Samuel does the same for her. She is drinking whole milk from sippy cups, and learning to feed herself. For her first year checkup everything looked great. She weighs 22lbs 7oz (75%) and is 31in long (+95%). Emma is healthy and making all of the right milestones. We are so thankful to have such a beautiful, little girl in our lives. I know that God has Emma right where she is supposed to be, and our family is better for it.

Emma around 2 1/2 months old.

Sleeping Cozy, Again!

2009-08-04T17:41:00.000-07:00

This is an addition to a post that I did earlier. My little angel is a total bed hog. She moves all over the bed throughout the night. Apparently, even the bed is not always enough room for her. We were at my parents house visiting, and this is how we found her one evening.

Peace Maker

2009-07-06T09:11:00.000-07:00

We have a new cat. Mister Fat Cat joined our family this past week when he showed up at our front door (literally). He is so pathetic looking right now. He is scrawny and only has one ear! The doctor thinks that he will be a big cat eventually, hence his name. Bella is still trying to adjust to him being around, but with Samuel's help they should be just fine. He gets on to Bella when she swats at him, and will put MFC right in Bella's face. The picture below is the two cats with Samuel in the middle, petting them both at the same time. I must say that Samuel is quite the peace maker, because the two cats have been doing much better since he has done all of this.

Mister Fat Cat's current sleeping spot!

Freedom

2009-07-06T08:44:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed a good July 4, spending it with our church family. We went to a local fairground and sold home-made ice cream and corn dogs. The kids came out later in the evening with their Nana. It was nice to have her up for a couple of days so that she could spend some time with the kids and us. We also had a nice church service and the kids looked festive in their red, white, and blue. Enjoy the pics below!

Samuel wanted to help cook, so we got a few pictures of him in the kitchen. I am not exactly sure where his pants were!

The Great Pumpkin Patch!

2009-07-06T08:31:00.000-07:00

My brothers and I have decided to have a pumpkin contest to see who can grow the biggest pumpkins. David and I are nervous because we can't seem to keep any plant alive! Our family decided to grow Big Max, Competition Hybrids, and Pumpkin Pie pumpkins. The ones we are using for our contest are the Big Max ones. These pumpkins, if grown correctly, can get up to over 100 lbs! We are so excited about this because it should be a lot of fun. I will post more pictures of my brothers planting theirs, but I am still waiting for them to be emailed to me. In the meantime, happy planting harvesters!

Look-a-likes

2009-07-06T08:25:00.000-07:00

I have chuckled over and over again at this picture. We were in the butterfly garden at the aquarium and I was trying to take a picture of David and Emma. A butterfly flew by right as I was taking the photo and it caught both of their attention. They are showing the same expression down to the crinkled lines in their faces! I think this photo is hilariously cute and had to post in its on separate post so that you could see how much they look alike. Emma is growing so quickly!

Season Passes!

2009-07-06T07:54:00.000-07:00

This past week my brother and girlfriend-in-law came up for a day visit and to pick up our old couch. We decided to take the kids to the Tennessee Aquarium, which we finally got season passes for! Samuel, as usual, enjoyed it and Emma was much more observant. We have a little trouble with Samuel in the butterfly garden because he tries to catch and squash the butterflies! Emma on the other hand is amazed watching them fly around. Samuel's favorite part is watching the penguins. He can tell us what is coming next in many of the exhibits now. It was nice to just have family time. We had a good time and I am glad that Josh and Grace took a day to come up!

Emma watching the butterflies!

Samuel finally (after many visits!) got brave enough to touch the water in the hands on part of the aquarium! The picture below is one that I got of Josh, Grace, and Samuel. Its the only picture that I have of her. Somehow we were the ones taking most of the pictures.

Samuel and Josh getting a close up of the fish!

Samuel with his new penguin(we bought it somewhere else and gave it to him at the aquarium! We saved $5!). Below are pictures of Samuel and Emma posing with the penguin statues. Emma was very amused at the creature that was her size! She was all smiles as usual.

1234

2009-07-01T21:19:00.000-07:00

David and I always joked about this song...he says that he wrote it and someone stole it from him! I like the song, so he learned it. I recorded him playing it on my phone. Hopefully you can hear it! I love him!

"Will Walk For Food"

2009-06-29T19:14:00.000-07:00

Emma took her first steps today! There were about 4 of them! David had her bottle and I was on the couch with her. I stood her up and she walked to David! It was so exciting. Watching the children grow and develop is always so amazing to me. They change so quickly. Emma loves Samuel and gets so excited watching him. I call her my "copy cat" and Samuel my "repeat". He will say anything! I will post more later, but I wanted to blog this part sooner than later.

Roller Skates

2009-06-29T18:52:00.000-07:00

YAY, David is home for a little while! For those of you who don't know, David is beginning his last year of seminary. While we are so excited, the journey is not complete. He has to take classes on campus for the next 6 months, which means a lot of commuting back and forth to Kentucky. Samuel is especially delighted for our next little bit of time together. Today we went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. Emma loves babies; anything and everything having to do with babies she likes. So we were going to get her a new doll, but she pitched a fit and threw it out of the cart (so we left it). Samuel on the other hand (surprisingly)did very good and wanted some roller skates that David had shown him. We thought that he might enjoy it and we both had some similar as children, so we got them. Below are some pictures that I took of his first time using them. Samuel wanted David to wear a helmet too! There is also a picture of Emma...and for those who may be thinking that I am a bad mother, I do plan on getting her a new doll tomorrow! :)

Gigantic Pizza!

2009-06-16T20:48:00.000-07:00

There is a wonderful local pizza shop that David and I love here in north Georgia. It is a new york style place, that features karaoke nights and local artists. Due to all of the traveling that our family has done recently, we decided to order pizza one night. Rico's accidentally made our pizza a 20 inch order! This was the biggest pizza I have ever seen. They didn't charge us extra, since it was their mistake. I must say, it was delicious. I hope that the pictures can help you at least get some grasp as to how large it was. Samuel could not carry the box, and I think that Emma could have fit inside!

Give that Baby some Food!

2009-06-16T20:30:00.000-07:00

This morning I was trying to fix Samuel some cereal for breakfast and I dropped the container. Cereal went all on the floor and I was able to salvage some of the cereal. Unfortunately I lost most of it in the calamity to the floor. Instead of immediately cleaning up the mess, I poured Samuel a bowl and got him settled with it. When I finally got to the place of being able to clean up my mess, I realized that I had a little helper already doing it! Emma was in the kitchen eating the cereal off the floor! This definitely went beyond the 5 second rule. She had cereal in both hands and in her mouth. I had to take a picture, which allowed her time to rescue a few more honeycombs before being tossed outside for the birds!

Caught Red-Handed!

Where have all the good toys gone?

2009-06-15T20:37:00.001-07:00

I love these glasses! Fun toys like these are so hard to find! Well my friend, your search may be over...Dollar General for $1! I find the best toys for Samuel and Emma there. Enjoy!

Summer Vacation

2009-06-15T20:06:00.000-07:00

Our family went to the beach with David's mom and brother. We had a lot of fun in St. Augustine, FL. It was nice to be able to spend some time together without the stresses of school and church. We rented beach bikes which helped me train for the triathlon. I wish that I had taken a picture of the bridge that we would run and bike. It was a huge hill that was around 0.8 mile. Samuel liked the beach at first, but then he was ready to go home. However, he talks about the beach almost daily! Samuel is a home-body, not like his mother at all in this way! Emma spent some time at the beach too, but for very short periods of time. In the evenings we would look for crabs. David and Jared tried to catch some, but acted like wheenies! So of course I had to get one first so that they would be shamed in to catching some for Samuel to see! He loved it and looked forward to walking on the beach each night. Here are some pictures of the kids at the beach. There was a turtle's nest right in front of our vacation house, so I took some pictures of Samuel by the signs. Also, the chair he is reclining in was on the back porch. He loved that chair!

1:47:56! I beat my goal by 12 minutes!

2009-06-15T19:20:00.000-07:00

June 6 I completed my first triathlon at Lake Lanier Islands. It was so invigorating and nerve racking! My stomach was in knots the whole week before as I tried to mentally prepare for the race. David and I spent a few days before with his grandparents in Monroe and then we spent Friday night at Lake Lanier. It was relaxing to be able to spend some time together without the kids because we both knew that are schedules were about to get crazy(which has started)! We woke up Saturday morning at 5:00am so that I could get my bike in a good transition spot. I was the first to get my bike in and I was able to get the spot that I had been dreaming about a couple of hours before! I was so nervous, but I finally began to calm down. Especially once my parents arrived and I could see them before the swim. The water was freezing, and I did not think that I was going to make it through the first part! I am a pretty good swimmer, but you could not tell that day! The thing that kept me going was the support team(David and my parents) that I could see up on the beach, and lots of praying. I made my way from the water and ran to get my bike. There I could hear David's mom yelling "go Jessica"! I needed a lot of encouragement. Somewhere towards the end of the bike ride, things seemed to click. I got into the groove of what I was doing and was able to finish strong. I did my best 5k time while doing the triathlon! Its amazing what our bodies can endure. Which reminds me, I was battling a terrible case of shin splints the entire week before. They were so bad that simply walking would be excruciating at times. We did a lot of praying...a lot of praying, and I had zero problems with them that day! Amazing, a true miracle! Below are some pictures of the big day; before my swim, my transition area, completion, my "tat", my new triathlete bumper stickers, and my loving family that was there to support me. This was the best birthday!

So I am definitely doing it!

2009-05-19T11:06:00.000-07:00

Well, as many of you may know, I have been training for a triathlon for several weeks. I have put off registering for it, in hopes that I may change my mind or someone else would for me! However, here I am 3 weeks away from the big day and I have not changed my mind. I am so excited and nervous about doing this. It will consist of a 1/4 mile swim, 12 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run. I still have much to do to prepare, but I wanted to share my confirmation email with you. Just for the extra accountability! I will blog more about this experience a little later. So for now, here is the email!

Registration Confirmation for:
My First/My Next Triathlon

Dear Jessica,

Congratulations! You are now registered for My First/My Next Triathlon. Please check the event's official website for updates: http://www.FirstTri.com
View your complete registration details »

Back up the commitment you've just made with the best resource available. Triathlete Magazine turns to the top experts to deliver the latest in training and nutrition, gear and apparel.

Silly Parents

2009-05-17T18:11:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of my parents this past week at the beach. I love this photo! My parents are so affectionate towards each other, which I think that being married for thirty years, they can do what they want! They are such great examples of Christ's love.

I love my kids!

2009-05-17T07:12:00.000-07:00

So here we are, a week past mother's day. All of the fun tingles have left, no more presents, no more special meals, and no more days to claim especially mine(except for my birthday which is in a few weeks!)! I had a wonderful day. The kids and I went down to Savannah for the weekend with my parents, and Matt and Shalah. We got to visit with my 93 year old Granny and go to the beach. Samuel loved the sand and the ocean. The water was a bit nippy, but of course that doesn't bother a 2 1/2 year old. He has been talking about going to the beach for a month.

Mother's day caused me to do a lot of thinking about what it takes to be a good "mama". I want my children to love and adore me, but not out of obligation. So I need to arrange my life to be of one that would be worth adoring. Sometimes I struggle so much because I am only 25, and already raising two children. Does someone my age really know how to care and provide selflessly for such wonderful beings? It is so easy to get discouraged and feel as if you are doing ALL of the wrong things. I find that once I get to this place mentally, it is hard to dredge my way back out of the pit that I put myself in. Becoming a mother was the hardest and most wonderful thing I have ever done. The strength it takes to be a stay at home mom is incredible. I had no idea how difficult this task could be. Some days there is no out, you are stuck knee deep in diapers and the walls close in on you due to the non-stop crying and whining that surrounds you. Coordinating nap times some days brings the only relief you get. Its like the nanny that sometimes you wish you could afford!

However, somehow amongst the chaos of the day and the nervous breakdown that awaits you in the night, God reveals himself to you. It is amazing to me that some days God can even get into our house because it is so messy! I am finding that He is the one who brings stability to our wonderful beautiful chaos that is our life. He brings order when I cannot get it together. He brings hope and life when I feel like I can't get out of bed to offer peace to a crying child. He is my teacher, healer, and sustainer. God is what motivates me to be a good, no great mama. I want my children to know God and know His love.

God's grace has been so good in my life. I know that I am in need of a Savior everyday. I know that I am not the best mother in the world. I am thankful for the mothers and grandmothers that David and I have to learn from. I do know that I am the best mother for my children, and I love them with every once of being that I have to give to them. It is only through God's love that I can fully express to them the joy that I have to give. At the end of the day, I realize that it isn't about me. I chose to bring two beautiful children into this world, and now it is my greatest joy to raise them in a way that when this life is over, God will say to them, "well done." I love my children. While this is the most terrifying and amazing job that I will ever have, I love being a mother!

Emma

2009-05-10T18:13:00.000-07:00

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I just wanted to update you all on Emma. She recently turned 9 months old. I can hardly believe how quickly she is growing. She has developed quite the little personality. She is very quick to let Samuel know when she is pleased or displeased with him. She is crawling all over the place, and follows us from room to room. She even does a little exploring on her own. She is cruising on furniture and can stand alone, but has not taken any steps yet. Emma loves to self-feed (3 teeth), but still is mostly on baby food and formula. She weighs 20lbs 8oz (95%) and is 30.25 in long (off the charts!). She makes a lot of noises, and can call her "Dada". Also she says "uh oh". I am so thankful to have this beautiful little girl!

Sunday Picnics and Bubbles

2009-05-02T13:15:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday we had a picnic after church in our yard. I love this time that we get to spend together as a family. Especially on a warm sunny day out in the yard. I tried to get some pictures of the kids playing. Samuel played with his bubbles while Emma did in the grass. Below are a few pictures of my attempt to get a sibling photo, as you can tell it was "real" sucessful! I believe that these times allow us to experience peace and joy in incomparable ways. "Sunday Picnics and Bubbles" sounds pretty simple, and that is what this Sunday was! Just good fun with the family!

Easter Egg Hunt

2009-04-19T19:01:00.000-07:00

We had an Easter Egg hunt at our church. We had a tornado come through Calhoun the night before so we were very worried about people coming. We ended up having a really good crowd and a great time. Here are a few pictures that Nana was able to take at the egg hunt.

Easter!

2009-04-19T18:29:00.000-07:00

Okay, so brand me the worst mother in the world, but I did not take any pictures of my children on Easter! We had such a busy morning, so fortunately we had family who was there to help take care of the children. They were the ones who took the photos, so below are some from both sides of the family. Jared (David's brother) is in the first picture with the kids, then there is their Grandma, and finally one with Emma and Uncle Matt(my brother). Samuel has the coolest blue sunglasses and he loves wearing them, so we let him! Church went great and we all had a good time. The kids painted flower pots during church, but unfortunately I don't have any pictures of those either! We tried teaching Samuel about what Easter means, but he doesn't really understand yet. Thanks to Veggie Tales, he at least gets to hear the story all throughout the year. We love Veggie Tales! I hope that everyone had a meaningful Easter that brought them closer to the Lord as we celebrated (and celebrate daily) the life that He brings.

Music and Guitars

2009-04-06T12:22:00.000-07:00

Samuel loves music. He loves everything about it! If David pulls out his guitar, then Samuel is right there beside him with his pick in hand. Samuel even has to have his "music" (chord sheet) right beside David's. It is so cute to watch. Yesterday I saw Samuel carrying around David's music book, while looking for his guitar. Once he got everything together he sat down and played for a good 20 minutes. This may not seem like a long time to you, but in Samuel time that is equivalent to a few hours! I could not let this photo-op go without a few pictures! I will post some pictures of Emma soon. She is crawling now, and doing some pulling up. Just like Samuel, she would much rather be walking! I think that she will be cutting teeth soon too. Her gums are definitely looking a little swollen. It always amazes me to stop and see how much my children are changing and growing!

Conversation

2009-04-06T12:11:00.000-07:00

For the past few days Samuel has asked for two things: to see his grandma, and to go to the ocean. Today he picked up my phone and asked to call "grandma", so of course I let him. Sometimes he is shy when he talks on the phone, while other times he is a chatter-box. Today, he was definitely in the mood to talk. He walked around the living room with the phone open, so that his grandma could "see" everything. First he tried to show her the birds eating at their birdhouse. He placed the phone on the seat next to him and both "looked" outside. Grandma graciously pretended to see everything that was going on! Then he sat down with the phone in his lap so that they could read a book together. At this point I knew that I needed to grab the camera! So here are a few pictures of Samuel with my cell phone, as he tries to show his grandma a couple of new books that he has gotten. The conversation (which is a word that Samuel is learning), ended with Samuel brushing his teeth, and me trying to get the phone away!

Nature

2009-03-27T16:21:00.000-07:00

As I said in a previous blog, we are trying to cultivate a garden this year. Daddy bought Samuel a starter set and then had to come to Calhoun to help us till the ground. I got a couple of pictures of Samuel playing in the freshly stirred dirt with a shovel. Emma decided that she would just play with the grass. Too cute for dirt right now I guess! Also, we got Samuel a bird house so that he can watch the birds eat. David was working on seminary stuff, so good 'ole Grandpa (or PaPa) helped him hang it. We have a couple of birds that do come to it already, which is exciting! It is amazing how close God is to us even through nature. I guess just another nugget of God's goodness that He allows us to share in with Him.

This is the birdhouse that Samuel picked out from Wal-Mart for us to hang in our backyard.

Having Fun

2009-03-27T16:05:00.000-07:00

David has been out of town this weekend for school and my mama has Emma for the weekend, so Samuel and I are having one big party! We have planted our garden, which I have been told will probably be a mess if I don't work on spreading it out some more! We planted squash, cucumber, cantaloupe, watermelon, tomatoes, peppers, and flowers. Samuel also decided to walk around the house with winter wear on, so I had to take some pictures of him. The last picture is of Samuel enjoying a Little Debbie! Just one of the many things that we been doing during our 3 day party!

This is a picture that I took of Emma a few weeks ago in her halter outfit! She looks adorable in it. Enjoy the picture, because if her daddy has any say (which he has a lot of!), this may be the ONLY halter outfit that you will see her in! Samuel was helping me take a few pictures!

Flawless Perfection

2009-03-26T13:02:00.000-07:00

I was cleaning up the house today (which is rare!), and I was praying while I was moving from room to room. For those of you who don't know, Jennifer's (my sister-in-law) really close friend passed away on Tuesday evening due to a terrible car accident. Christy was a beautiful, smart, friendly young woman who had just completed her master's degree. She was not in a relationship nor had any children, but was getting to know my cousin who lives in Las Vegas. She was very close to her family, especially her mother, and just an all around sweet person. She was the type of person that when they pass away, for a little while after, the world seems to be a little darker or colder. So as I was cleaning, my heart just seemed to break for this family and the people that knew her. I was asking the Lord to speak to me, because I so desperately need His help to make some sense of this situation. I did not feel my spirit move any real distance but deeper into the heart of God. It is times like these that we are inclined to be angry with God and to take away from the divinity of who He is. Why would a just God not have prevented the accident or keep her neck from snapping? The truth is that to save Christy from any real pain for the rest of her life, allowing her to complete her life earlier may have been justice. We will probably never know in this life time what the Lord accomplished for His sake, or how His heart was grieved at such an untimely death. For Christians, we have the hope of salvation and the knowledge that Christy is in a place of flawless perfection. It is so hard for us sometimes to see death as not the final end. So how do we find healing and peace for our aching hearts while here on Earth? We must dive into the Word and through prayer. It is in this time before the Lord that we realize that God is still in control and that only He can bring us to full restoration. Anger and bitterness, if allowed to fester in our hearts, will prevent the bridge to healing to take place. God is always there waiting for us, but because He gives us free will, we have to move towards Him. God full of perfect love and peace, who is light, can meet us in our darkness but we cannot remain dark. It is at a point of decision that we allow ourselves to have relationship with God. It is in times of people's deaths that our faith is made evident. Either we trust the goodness of God while knowing that the world we live in is broken, or we turn from the One who gives us the very breath that we take. The amazing thing about God is, He can handle our anger, and it is okay to hurt. However, we cannot allow that to push us from God and to keep from moving from glory to glory. We must pray as Paul did, that seeing only dimly through this world that the Lord would remove from his eyes the veils that keep Him from seeing as how God views the world. Christy's story wasn't over the second that she took her last breath. For she stood before the King of kings, and Jesus took her hand and said, "this one is with me." She is now in complete fullness, the way that we were intended to be. And now she only knows good and perfect peace, and is experiencing everlasting love. That is the story and legacy that she will carry, and for that I cannot be angry.

Intentional Family Time

2009-03-10T09:29:00.001-07:00

In one of David's classes at Asbury this semester, he is required to set goals for the church, his coursework, and for his family. I was thrilled when he came up with one of his goals for the family being "intentional family time." It is so easy for us to get busy with the kids and typical day to day stuff without really spending time together. So on our first "intentional" outing, we decided to go to state Park near the Tennessee state line. They had a beautiful waterfall and a little playground. We took a picnic and ate outside. It was a little cooler than we anticipated, but that wasn't a problem. We had a very enjoyable day, and it was nice to all be together with no need to be anywhere but together. Thanks for a great day David!

Scary Baby

2009-03-03T12:18:00.000-08:00

Emma has learned to make this weird raspy noise, and does it often since her discovery. For a couple of days she would start laughing and then turn it into a growl sound. Well I overheard her in the bed making the noise so I tried to catch it on camera. Sorry for the shakiness of the camera, I was really getting tickled at the noises she was making.

Run Baby Run!

2009-02-23T18:02:00.000-08:00

Most of you who are reading this probably are pretty impressed seeing the Gales each with a trophy. I am sorry to tell you that we did not earn these trophies from winning the Bobcat Ramble 5k this past weekend in Milledgeville. As a matter of fact, Daniel and I finished close to last. I never saw anyone cross the line after us! I have been working out for about 5 1/2 months now, but running has always been difficult for me. Josh on the other hand finished in 21 minutes, and Matt not to be undone by his younger sibling finished 6 minutes later and has not ran much since high school(that being 5 years ago). It was so much fun though for us to all get together and push ourselves be better physically. I think however that this run was better for me mentally. I have always played sports, but my brothers were always better than me. But this past Saturday that didn't seem to matter anymore, it was about us starting and completing something together. We all have had our struggles, what seems to be our on personal 5ks over the past few years. Daniel has had to endure a race that has the obstacle of losing a son, Matt knows the struggles of marrying young while trying to achieve his dreams, Josh has seen all of his siblings marry and move out of the house while still in middle school, and I have had my own bumps in the road. We never know what life may throw us, but if we aren't willing to try then we may not know what is at the end of the race. See on Saturday, Josh was able to be an encouragement and push Matt to be better and not give up. I don't know where I would have finished in the race on Saturday, but I wasn't going to leave Daniel behind. My race isn't about being the fastest (though I do wish I were faster!), but about enjoying the run. My brothers and I are all going at different speeds in life, but one thing is certain, we are all cheering each other along and will wait at the finish line to see each one through. As far as the picture above goes, we snuck those off the award table and snapped a photo(Daniel's idea by the way)! But there is so much truth in what you see, we are winners and we will finish this race triumphantly because our God is mighty and good!

This looked like fun!

2009-02-22T17:12:00.001-08:00

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family history - Family pictures

This one is for my mom!

2009-02-16T20:00:00.000-08:00

Well, I got a text today from my mama telling me that I needed to update my blog because she was tired of seeing everyone else have new postings and mine not! So here we go...Emma is now a little over six months. She weighs around 18lbs and is close to 28 inches long. This makes her in the 90th and 95th percentiles. I have compared her measurements and she is matching up to Samuel very closely. Samuel was a little heavier and she may be a tad longer. She is very interested in everything going on around her and loves to stand up. I can't even get her to eat her food if Samuel is in the room! She loves him, and he loves her. Below are some pictures that I took while David and I were cleaning our room. Emma was sitting on our bed and Samuel was playing around. We both turned around to see Samuel and Emma "hiding" under the laundry basket. This quickly turned into hair pulling and pushing. David and I cracked up because they are already fighting!

Samuel's imagination continues to amaze me. He is a clever little boy. He has recently learned how to turn off his CD player by moving his step stool from the bathroom and putting it by his dresser to climb on. Well today he was playing cowboy and horse with his daddy. He used his wipe box as a trough for David to drink out of. It was so cute that I had to get some pictures. With David's height, it is like riding a small pony!

Emma is doing a lot of teething right now, so everything goes in her mouth. She is chewing on a rasberry pacifier. Also, note her adorable Valentine's Day bracelet!

Airplane Rides and Sitting

2009-01-19T16:55:00.000-08:00

I took these last night after I had already posted the other pictures. David was flying Emma in the air like an airplane and Samuel naturally wanted a turn too. It also appears that they took turns sitting on each other! The children love their daddy, and he sure loves them. Sometimes Emma will give a kiss if you ask her for one. It basically is an open mouth slobber attack, but I love it! I thank God for the joy that our family experiences through relationship with each other.

Swinging!

2009-01-19T10:19:00.000-08:00

I forgot that I had taken the pictures one day while we were out at the playground. Emma did like the swing, even though you can't tell in the photograph.

Emma's first taste of Cereal

2009-01-19T09:06:00.000-08:00

We started a couple of weeks ago trying to feed Emma cereal. She is very interested in what we eat, but I'm afraid that her food was not quite what she was expecting! We took some pictures from the first time that we fed her. She still is not taking the cereal very well, but I'm sure that she will get used to it soon. Plus when we started adding the fruits, it will taste much better. Its amazing that less than two years ago we did this with Samuel, but I am still going to have to pull out the books to remember what foods she can and cannot have right now! By the way, Samuel could not stay away from the her bowl of baby cereal so I finally let him have a taste. Needless to say, he did not like it and has kept his fingers out of it since then!

Samuel is very "into" all things Emma!

My Cuties!

2009-01-18T16:15:00.000-08:00

I know that every mother believes that children are the greatest things ever, and admittedly I agree! We haven't had too much going on out our house lately. Just the usual, diaper changes, feedings, naps, and bathes! We did manage to snap a few photos tonight, and I think they are adorable! Emma is sitting up really well now which allowed for Samuel to hold Emma a little better. And for those concerned, he is hugging her, not putting her in the "choker hold." So please indulge me and enjoy the photos!

Too Long, and too busy

2009-01-09T15:45:00.000-08:00

So, after many have asked for the next posting to be put up, here it is. I have decided to not try to back track too much, because that would be to tedious obviously I don't have the time for that! Thanksgiving and Christmas were great. We had so much to be thankful for this year, and we remembered Dixon throughout the holidays. It will be one year since his death January 26. In some ways it is as if time has stood still, while yet time has flown. Emma is in the beginnings of eating baby food, which she is not crazy about at the moment. She is sitting up, and occasionally rolling over. She smiles a lot and has a wonderful temperament most of the time, but Samuel does know how to push her buttons. That and out of no where baby toys are fascinating to both Emma and Samuel. It is also a wonder at how fast a two year old can spin a 5 1/2 month old around in an exersaucer! Samuel is talking up a storm, and really beginning to process things in a more childlike way. The terrible twos has come with a vengeance on his poor toddler body, and he cannot always express himself in the most pleasant ways! He is refusing to use the toilet, although today he gloriously proclaimed that he did not want to wear "baby diapers" like his sister. He knows when he has to go, and so do we...so hopefully this much awaited time is coming when he will use the toilet and not his diaper! David and I are great. We are currently training for a triathlon at Lake Lanier in June. It is called a sprint because it is not the iron man distance. However, it does require training, so we are getting excited about it. Well I don't want to overwhelm you with writing, and this is a quick way to get you up to speed. I hope to do better in the future! Enjoy the pictures, they are a mixture of holidays, our trip to Costa Rica, and just around the house. God bless!

Sleeping Cozy!

2008-11-23T16:34:00.000-08:00

I found Emma sleeping this a few nights ago. She seems to like this position, with one arm hanging out. I just had to get a picture before moving her back to the middle of the bed! She is growing so quickly. Before too long, I will be chasing two around, instead of one!

Cotton Candy

2008-11-17T19:30:00.000-08:00

These pictures were taken a couple of weeks ago at a church in town. It was a carnival style set up, and a very pleasant day. For all of you health conscious moms looking at this, he did not eat but a couple of bites of the cotton candy before we trashed it! It was mostly just to get cute pictures of him with it!

Go McCain!

2008-11-04T13:39:00.000-08:00

We saw this on another blog. It is pretty long, but he has some good points!

Pumpkin Mania! Part 2

2008-11-03T10:07:00.000-08:00

David took Samuel to visit some church members while he was in his Halloween costume. After about an hour or so, he came back and got Emma and me. We took Samuel to a couple of more places and then came home to light the pumpkin. As you can see, Emma wasn't really in the trick-or-treat mood! I think that we had more fun playing with the pumpkin than anything else!

Pumpkin Mania!

2008-11-03T09:58:00.000-08:00

We took Samuel to a pumpkin patch in a town nearby. He enjoyed running around all the pumpkins. We did our best to let him pick out the pumpkin of his choice. He was very excited to take his pumpkin home!

We waited until Halloween to carve our pumpkin because we got it so late. I held Emma and took pictures, while David and Samuel carved it. Samuel pretended that he was making soup with the pumpkin and did not like touching the inside part!

Sibling Love

2008-11-03T09:46:00.000-08:00

Sometimes when we put Samuel to bed, we take Emma in there so that she can be a part of his bedtime routine. He is very particular about how his routine is done, but fortunately he likes having Emma be a part of it. David read them their story on this night, so I took the opportunity to snap some photos. These were taken about a month ago.

Much to David's chagrin, I bought matching pajamas for the kids a few months ago. They have both finally grown into them, and so of course we took pictures of the first time they wore them together. Samuel loves to hold Emma, even if she is crying, so we let him!

Beautiful Babies!

2008-11-02T20:12:00.000-08:00

Ride 'em Cowboy!

2008-11-02T20:05:00.000-08:00

We took Samuel to ride a horse after his birthday. He was a little scared due to the size of the horse, but he seemed to enjoy it. Nana(Melanie) was able to go with us, so we had a special time. Samuel's Papa loved horses, and I think that we all thought about him on this day. I know that he would have been so proud seeing Samuel up there on that horse!

Samuel turned 2!

2008-11-02T19:44:00.000-08:00

Samuel's birthday (Oct. 3) was a fun day. No extended family was able to come up and we planned his party for a couple of weeks later, when everyone could come, so we made sure that we made it a special day. First he got his haircut (which I am glad that it is finally growing out some!), and then we got tatoos! After this we took his presents and lunch outside and he went "grocery shopping" for it. We laid his stuff throughout the drive-way and he would push his shopping cart around picking it all up. We had a picnic outside. We ended the day by watching a movie (Finding Nemo, I think)in the living room. However, he got up half way through and went to his room for bed...we were so surprised! On October 12, we baptized Emma and celebrated Samuel's birthday with the whole family. We were blessed to be able to have everyone make it. Papa(Bobby) did the baptism and Pop(Knox)helped. That will always be a special memory for both David and I.

This was on the day that Emma got Baptized.

I'm soooo behind with blogging!

2008-11-02T19:30:00.000-08:00

So much has happened in the past few weeks, that I haven't been able to keep up with the blog. So it may take several posts to get everyone caught up. So check back over the next few days for more updates! Here are some pictures that we took when Emma turned 2 months old and just a few days before Samuel's birthday. Some pictures are with our digital camera and others are with our film. Emma was 23&1/2 inches and around 12 pounds at her wellness visit.

Going After the Goal

2008-10-06T21:50:00.000-07:00

What keeps us from achieving our goals? Is it not having enough time in the day, or becoming complacent with the day-to-day activities so much that we forget about them? Or are you like me, and find yourself afraid to take the first step to make it happen because of the uncertainty of what might happen...mostly of the possibility of failure. I have been attending a Curves 6 Week Boot Camp intensive exercise class. I apprehensively went the first day and had my body measured and weighed. Being the mother of two (one of which is fresh out of the womb!), you can only imagine how mortifying this was for me! After having Samuel, and then having trouble with my thyroid, I never lost THAT baby weight. So here I was faced head on with my biggest fear ever, failure. My biggest fear of becoming pregnant again was not having two small children, but dealing with the pride of knowing that I was going to gain even more weight. I became so dissatisfied with myself and my body that it affected every aspect of my being. Sure I had made goals to lose weight, and to become a happier person in general. But lets face it, I was all alone. In this feeling of loneliness, I only separated myself from my family and even worse, God. This was certainly a formula that would set me up for failure. However, through searching and the Lord reawakening of my spirit, I found myself in a place of desperation. A desperation to become the woman that God created me to be. I began this six weeks afraid of the unknown...how much weight would I lose? But I have gained so much more than I ever thought possible. I am so thrilled to say that I have lost all of the weight gained with Emma! I have set a goal of losing 10 lbs by the end of this, and I intend to reach it! It will take work and dedication, especially to healthy eating. But nothing comes without a cost. We must decide if the cost is worth reaching our end destination. My biggest transformation however, has been mentally. I have learned to set long term goals, and temporary ones that will help me reach the long term ones. Life is so precious, a true gift. God lavishes his children with gifts and goodness, but if we aren't in a place mentally to receive it, then we miss out. Its amazing the revelations that we receive when we get our head in the game and keep playing. It is too easy to decide to "sit it out" because we are intimidated by the desires of our heart. But there is hope! God gives us the abilities that we need to pursue Him(when we align our hearts to His) and His desires. Go after God and be willing to do a little work, and watch your goals being reached...even if it is one day at the time!

Couldn't Resist!

2008-09-25T20:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I said that I wasn't going to post any pictures yet, but I couldn't resist. Especially since my mother has asked me for a couple of days now when I was going to put up some pictures of Emma. So here are a few from this evening...enjoy Mama!

The Big Two's

2008-09-25T20:32:00.000-07:00

Okay, this blog may be a little disappointing because there are no pictures, but I assure some will be posted this weekend. I wanted to give a quick update on the children. Emma turned two months old today! She is 23inches long, and weighs 11 lbs 8oz. The doctor says that she is healthy and growing just like she is supposed to be doing. She is doing a lot of smiling and picking her head up when she's on her tummy. She recognizes Samuel, which is so sweet. It will be fun to watch the two of them as they develop their relationships. Samuel is just shy of his second birthday so we are trying to teach him how to say his age. Right now he not interested so much in that! He is so silly and has such a fun spirit about him. He is becoming more and more creative as he learns to manipulate and manouver his toys to get them to do what he wants them to do. He is really into standing up on things right now, which means we have to keep a close eye on him! This weekend we are going to take pictures, so we will post them as soon as possible. David is busy with seminary and the church. I have started taking an exercise class, and love it! All in all, the Blackwood family as a whole is growing physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. God is so good!

Cowboy Samuel!

2008-09-22T19:33:00.000-07:00

Samuel is going to be a cowboy for Halloween this year, so of course he has a new cowboy hat. He loves it! Today was such a beautiful day, so we went outside and let Samuel play. He wanted to wear his hat, so we let him. I love his red shoes and how they look with his hat. I took a lot of pictures with my film camera, but I did manage to take a few with my digital so that I could post them. Samuel is really changing and growing. Today he said his first prayer, "Dear God, thank you for today. I love you! Amen." He is also learning to sing songs. His favorite song is "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." Samuel is also enjoying learning to jump. I can hardly believe that he will be two years old in a couple of weeks! Emma is doing good today. I will be posting pictures of her soon, because she will be two months old! Time is flying, but we are having a blast! Enjoy the pictures!

2008-09-07T13:26:00.000-07:00

It is amazing how busy two kids can make you! I remember feeling this way when I just had Samuel, now that I have two children, I think it is actually true! I am proud to say that showering is done on a daily basis (any mothers reading this know what I am talking about!), and at least two meals are being eaten a day. So I feel like I am making process. Emma is doing great. She is growing so quickly. She is beginning to hold her head up and really looking around. At about 5 weeks, she gave us a big smile and has been doing so since then! Samuel is cutting the last of his canine teeth, which is a relief for everyone! As we are getting close to his second birthday, he is talking in sentences (still hard to understand though...haha) and really putting together concepts. The cutest thing he does is say "hallelujah" and "praise the Lord". Unfortunately I don't have those on video yet, but I do have Samuel feeding his elephant a bottle. One afternoon I was feeding Emma, and he grabbed an old bottle and started feeding elephant, wiping him with a cloth, and even burped him! Below is a little video that we were able to get along with a few pictures.

You never know what kind of picture you might get to take at our house these days! Samuel loves to have fun!

Family

2008-08-27T19:11:00.000-07:00

Here is a couple of pictures with daddy and mama with there babies! We love them!

Time is Flying!

2008-08-27T18:55:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe that it has been a month since Emma was born. She is beautiful and healthy. I think that she is going to be a feisty little thing, she has already rolled over! I'm not so sure that it was on purpose, but regardless she turned from tummy to back. Samuel is still doing a great job with her. He gives her a kiss every night before he goes to bed. I am excited about our family and how it is growing. This is just a group of different pictures, with nothing in particular.

First Family Outing

2008-08-03T18:43:00.000-07:00

So today got off to a rough start. Samuel has been cutting two canine teeth which have made him completely miserable. Needless to say, this morning he only wanted his daddy and would not have anything to do with me and Emma, his Uncle Josh, or Grace. This was not good because David has church and cannot carry Samuel around with him, which he just cried anyways! We laid him down for a nap around 10:30am (atleast 3 hours ahead of normal) and he fell right to sleep. So we did not make it to church and I had to take off Emma's dress from Costa Rica that her Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Daniel got for her so that it wouldn't get messed up in hopes that she will make her debut at Mt. Pleasant UMC wearing it next week. Fortunately a couple from the church brought us pizza, soda (which I seem to be living off of these days!), and dessert for lunch! Samuel did better once he woke up from his nap and things seemed to be getting better as the day progressed. This led us to decide to go to the park together as a family. This is the first place that we have gone as a family, and Emma's first real outing. She cried all the way to the playground (10 minute drive), which surprised me because she has done very well in the car. Turns out that she has a stinky diaper that I did not realize until we were already away from the car! As soon as I finished changing her, David ask for a new diaper for Samuel because he too had a stinky diaper! We decided to go to a new playground due to the crowd that the current one had. It ended up being a good move and we had a great time. Samuel loves his Uncle Josh and Grace and they did a great job playing with him. These are some pictures from today.

We love Grandparents!

2008-07-30T20:48:00.000-07:00

God knew what He was doing when He made grandparents. Over the past two years we have found how important it is for a family to have grandparents be active in their lives. I am so grateful that God has given us two great sets of grandparents and healthy, active great-grandparents as well! They have helped us so much in keeping Samuel when we needed it, or offering David and I support emotionally, physically, and mentally. We know that they pray for us and our children, which is vital in the Christian faith. My parents and David's mom have been great these past few days in helping us adjust to Emma's arrival. And we know that if Dixon were here, he would have a huge bow on the door and stork out in the front yard! My father has done an excellent job in taking care of Samuel while mama was at the hospital with Emma and me, which I am sure was a very busy task with a 21month old. We are fortunate that David's grandparents are active in our lives as well. They offer us wisdom and comfort that comes through a life time full of experiences. Below are a few pictures of them with Emma, helping us celebrate new life. Some are at the hospital, and as you can see in the bottom, mama came home with us to help with whatever we needed. She has helped cook, clean, feed Emma, keep Samuel, offer emotional support to me, pray, and much much much more! Thank you to our parents and grandparents for everything!

Emma's First Bath

2008-07-30T20:32:00.000-07:00

Emma is five days old and doing well. My breast milk never fully came in, so we are formula feeding her. The same thing happened with Samuel, so this was not an unexpected surprise. We had a hard time today getting her to eat because she did a lot of sleeping. So we decided to give her a sponge bath (her umbilical cord, or "the Slug" as David likes to call it, hasn't fallen off yet). She was not very happy with us while it was happening, but the end results were worth it. She was smelling and looking good afterwards! It was amazing to be bathing her, but remembering so much of Samuel's first bath. I know that the two of them will be very different, but its neat to see the traits that make them family. Here are some pictures of her first bath!

Emma is home!

2008-07-30T19:55:00.001-07:00

Many of you are probably wondering how Samuel is doing with his new little sister. He is adjusting to having her here. At first he did not want to have much to do with her and said "uh oh" when he saw her in HIS house! He has become very interested in her feedings and diaper changes. And when she cries, he wants to know what is wrong. Samuel is and is going to be a great big brother! Now he likes to give her kisses and push her in her swing. He even has figured out how to feed her. He either wants to help give her the bottle, or run off with it and tries to use it himself! Fortunately for us, he does not like the taste of formula and can be easily bribed with a "big boy" cup of juice or milk. We are continuing to adjust to being a family of 4 instead of 3, and having a baby in the house is very different...but we are loving every minute of it! Here are a few more pictures of Samuel and Emma.

Here she is!! Emma Grace Blackwood

2008-07-30T19:18:00.000-07:00

So, after an hour of trying to get an epidural in and hitting my nerves 3 different times, the anesthesiologist decided to do a spinal block. With much prayer and confidence in my obgyn, I delivered a beautiful girl at 8:50am. Emma weighed 8lbs 6oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. As you can see in the pictures, she has a head full of black hair. We stayed in the hospital the full 3 days to give ourselves some time to rest and heal. Due to not having an epidural I was pretty sore from the beginning, but I am doing better now. The key is to keep moving around! Emma is doing well also. She is healthy, and we are so thankful for that. God is good!

Anxiously Awaiting Our Little Girl

2008-07-30T19:01:00.000-07:00

Well we got to the hospital around 6:00am on July 25. Here are some pictures of us as we await the arrival of our daughter (and sister). We are all so excited and can hardly wait to see what she looks like!

Sleeping Cute

2008-07-30T09:56:00.000-07:00

I always check on Samuel before I go to bed at night. I got so tickled at seeing him lay like this. He has two blankets and two stuffed animals that he always sleeps with. For some reason he has become very attached to these items and if he carries one around, then he has all four! Anyways this is just a cute picture that mama was able to get with her camera.

Having Fun at the Car Wash!

2008-07-30T09:28:00.000-07:00

So I am two weeks from having Emma and we are staying in Irwinton due to a few preterm labor scares! All is well and I am so thankful to have family who is so helpful. Mama (or Grandma to Samuel)decided to wash the car before daddy returns from Kenya. She and Samuel went to washing and here are some pictures of Samuel helping. As you can see below, nothing is safe from the cleaning sponge of an almost two year old!

A few updates!

2008-06-29T20:33:00.000-07:00

I know that I haven't been keeping the blog up very well lately. We seem to be so busy, and by the end of the day I am too tired to blog! The pregnancy is going well, and we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our little girl! I was having some contractions this past Monday, so we made an unscheduled visit to the doctor just to make sure that everything was okay. He said that I was having contractions, but that I had not begun dilating or thinning. We were relieved to hear that the baby was not quite ready to come yet, since we are just now 35 weeks. However, if I did go into labor, the doctor would not stop it. We did get some unexpected but exciting news while we were there! Dr. Barnes believes that I will not deliver before 37 weeks, but he is not sure that I will make it to July 25, which is our c-section date. Apparently when your mate is 6'5", you don't stand a chance of having small babies! We are excited at the possibility of having her here earlier, but we do want everything to be okay with her most importantly. Our prayer is that she will at least wait until July 16 because David has a week long class in Wilmore, KY right after the fourth of July and daddy will be in Kenya until the 15th!
Samuel is doing great! He is growing so quickly and we are really seeing the toddler boy in him! He is saying a lot more words than before and is learning to communicate his wants and/or needs. I think that he is going to be a great big brother, and that it won't take him long to get used to having a girl around the house. Although, pink seems to be the color that is going to overrun the house! Please continue to pray for our family as we get ready to make many new adjustments!

Happy Birthday Jessica!

2008-06-10T10:45:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that today is Jessica is 25 years old today. I know that I am biased because I am her husband but I think that she is really great. She has done so much in 25 years. She has graduated college, married, become the wonderful mother of Samuel, and is now expecting her first daughter in July. The Lord uses her so much to minister to me as I serve as a pastor. She has really been a partner with me in all that I am doing at the church. She encourages her family, friends, and basically everyone who she meets. So Happy Birthday Jessica and thank you for all you do!

Chuckee Cheese Please!

2008-05-27T11:30:00.000-07:00

Samuel got to the spend a weekend in Irwinton a few weeks ago because David and I were working a retreat in Dooly County. Samuel always has fun at his grandparents house, and it seems to take him a few days to recover after being there. His grandma spoils him rotten! But we love it! Well this particular weekend he was spoiled by all of his family. Uncle Matt and Lala came to visit on Thursday, Grandpa came home from Africa on Friday, Uncle Daniel and JenJen took him to Chuckee Cheese on Saturday, and Uncle Josh's girlfriend was gone for the weekend so that gave them a lot more time together. David and I are blessed to have family that is involved in Samuel's life. We don't have pictures of all the visits, but here are some from Daniel when Samuel was with him.

Uncle Daniel and Samuel both climbed through the tubes and went down the big slide.

Playing a video game.

Talking on the phone, which Samuel is getting very good at!

Samuel's Aunt Jennifer took him to see Chuckee.

Samuel loves pizza, and so does Daniel!

Dancing on the dance floor.

Samuel riding on a horse.

This video is too cute! Samuel loves to dance!

Graduation

2008-05-27T11:07:00.001-07:00

We have been so busy lately that I have not gotten around to posting any new blogs. David finished up his spring semester in seminary and is now spending this week in Orlando for a summer class. It seems that we have hit the ground running for the summer and we won't have any breaks until September! David finished his classes on Friday, and by that afternoon we both headed to the houses of our different families for our brothers' Saturday graduations. David will have to post a blog later for his brother's graduation in Acworth, but here are some pictures from my brother's big day in Irwinton. Unfortunately David and Shalah couldn't be there, but we had a good day anyways.

Brinner!

2008-04-14T19:53:00.000-07:00

Our family often enjoys a meal that we like to call "brinner", breakfast for dinner. If we have pancakes I cook, and if its waffles or eggs David does it. Well tonight we decided to have pancakes, so I then went to the kitchen to get brinner started. Only after a few moments of being in the kitchen, Samuel joined me. Thanks to Grandma, he loves to cook! He even walks around our house with a kitchen spoon pretending to stir food and then feed it to everyone in the room. It is adorable! Generally I sit him on our counter top and let him help with what we are doing. So tonight I let him stir the pancake mix as I cooked them. Here are a few pictures that David got with our little chef in action!